Instituto Pedro Nunes (IPN) will coordinate an European acceleration project for 150 startups who find new business opportunities in the area. The Astropreneurs starts on January 9 with the first meeting of the various partners

Astropreneurs manages a budget of two million euros to leverage new business ideas aimed at the space market or incorporating space technology into terrestrial applications. Funded by the European Commission through the H2020 Program, this project will create new businesses, generate employment and stimulate economic growth in cooperation with industry, investors and national and European institutions. Astropreneurs is coordinated by Portugal through IPN and brings together various partners from Germany, Austria, Belgium, Spain, France, the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic.

Around 500 entrepreneurs will have access to intensive training, which includes 50 hours of mentoring and consulting led by 100 experts to support entrepreneurs in accelerating their projects and attracting public and private funding for faster entry and consolidation in Marketplace.

To help turn promising ideas into viable businesses, Astropreneurs opens the door to a vast network of investors, industry and support agencies that integrate the so-called "Space Economy" so that companies get the most out of target markets and opportunities. Entrepreneurs also have access to a set of technical workshops and meetings with key stakeholders in the space industry. Applications open in September.

Space is increasingly a source of economic growth and innovation

For a long time, the space sector was more focused on strategic objectives related to space science and exploration. However, this reality has changed and this sector has attracted the attention of other actors, such as states, companies and private investors. The "Space Economy" has become a sector with real impact, bringing disruptive innovations and many new business opportunities, especially when applied to other land sectors of the economy.

For example, Galileo, the European satellite localization system, providing unparalleled precision, is creating its own business area, with hundreds of startups starting to explore this opportunity.

EGNOS, a forerunner to Galileo, is a complementary system that increases the accuracy of satellite navigation signals in Europe and can also support new applications in a variety of sectors, such as aviation or precision agriculture.

The European Copernican program, which provides Earth observation data in real time, is another source of spatial data that is being incorporated into new products and services of the future in areas such as environment, civil protection and civil security.